The age of Miracles is Past
by never-ending-desire
Summary: AU time-travel fic.; starts after OOtP.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter - 1

A/N: AU post OOTP.

Disclaimers: Well you all know that Any Characters of Harry Potter Do Not belong to me. That's JKR for you.

One can never be all-knowing however much he would like to pretend. For Example it is true that Harry Potter can't even fathom to understand the web of conspiracies regarding his life but it is also true that he is not a complete moron. Some people would like to claim that he is delusional, reckless, hothead, way to prideful, and complete Gryffindor. In reality while some may have some grain of truth it can't be said that he is a complete Gryffindor. After all a thousand year old relic(Sorting Hat) can't be wrong. So to have it decided that Chosen One can be great in Slythrin there must have been some Slytherin qualities in him, however much repressed they were. But he was not ready or it can be that he didn't know his own potential to show the cunning and cleverness that a Slytherin applies to further his agenda. Well the time has come to show some Slytherin cunning for him, after all The Chosen One can't be a complete dunderhead however much Snape Would like him to be.

It was summer after fifth year and Harry was enjoying his Diagon Alley trip after mourning his dead Godfather for a month. For the last week he read Daily Prophet to get a grip on reality that was wizarding world. Well it didn't surprise him a bit that they were singing his praises claiming him The Chosen One and what not. One thing he knew without a doubt that public opinion is very easy to sway. One can make a beggar a Saint or it can make a honest person Devil reincarnate. So he came to the conclusion that if he have to live peacefully he will have to maintain a public profile that neither makes him God nor the Devil. Well it is one of the necessary skill for a celebrity like him to have which he unfortunately was not very well versed in.

So while strolling in the Diagon Alley when his eyes fell on Malfoy family or what was present in the current time seeing as dear Lucius was holidaying in Azkaban; a plan began to formulate in his mind. He followed Malfoy Jr. in Knockturn Alley to see Draco enter Borgin and Burkes. Well after listening in the conversations he had somewhat guessed that he was either a Death Eater guessing from his earlier observations at Madam Malkin's shop or at least death eater in training seeing as his father was vacationing. So when he saw that Narcissa was heading in opposite direction to keep attention away from her wayward son, Harry started following the lone female Malfoy under his very helpful Invisibility Cloak, while appreciating the view that was Narcissa Malfoy. He waited for perfect opportunity before sticking his foot in front of Lady Malfoy causing her to stumble and the like a perfect gentleman catching her to prevent her from falling in the ground face first getting a good view in her upper body.

"Thank you...POTTER" Narcissa said while looking up causing her to hiss the last word as if it were beneath her to touch him.

"You are very welcome Cissy" Harry said using the nickname that dear Bella used for her causing her eyes to flash in irritation but her whole face remained a cool mask not indicating any other sign to show that it annoyed her to no end. Well two can play that game. But you didn't give her a chance to say anything before you put first step of your plan into action "I have a proposition for you that will be mutually beneficial." You stop to gauge her reaction. After an affirmative of "Go ahead" your second step of the first Slytherin worthy that you ever made came forward.

"I know that your dear son is up to no good and is in service of your husband's Master, and I have a concrete proof of the fact so if you agree to my requests I will keep my silence and help you to keep him out of Azkaban."Now this was the crucial step of the plan; while you accused him of serving Voldemort you didn't call him Death Eater, and since her family is associated with Voldemort so deeply thus he will be in some contact with other Death Eaters and thus serving dark lord indirectly. So you keep your cool trying to not show any outward indication of the nerves that you are feeling and wait for Narcissa's reaction.

"And what is your request."She asked.

"Just that you will teach me purebloods politics, manipulation, any other skill that you are proficient in including Occlumency at the time that I set while taking an oath of silence and secrecy and not to betray me."This was the price. Now he took a great risk showing all his cards at the beginning because while she didn't deny the accusations she neither confirmed it. But it seemed like his famous potter luck once again was in favour. It seemed like with her husband's recent incarceration she was nervous and with possibility that her son can be put in Azkaban too frightened her. He was almost tempted to show pity that came out of the goodness of your heart but you refrained showing any Gryffindor haste at the moment and indeed it was very fortunate that she agreed. It also confirmed your suspicion of Draco being a Death Eater.

"And if I don't refuse."She replied.

"Well then I will have to regretfully inform DMLE about suspect with proof, and seeing as they want me in their favour they will act on my information very effectively to get into my good graces."Harry said as nonchalantly as he could.

"Very well then, I accept your terms."After both parties gave their oath they returned to their respective camp with harry promising to write Narcissa informing the time and place for their meetings.

Harry was very happy at his success after all he had gained a very good source of knowledge in Politics, which will help him to deal with wizarding population and politicians who want to manipulate him. Harry entered twin's joke shop WWW and met with other three members of Golden Trio.

It was mid-November. After boarding train for Hogwarts Harry sat in his compartment contemplating the time and place for his lessons with Narcissa. He decided that the perfect timing would be after most students went to sleep. That will be after curfew. Since Hogwarts closes after curfew he can sneak to Whomping Willow to get into shrieking shack. That will be ideal place for their meetings as Narcissa can't get into castle and he can't go very far from school. With shack's reputation it will be easy to meet there without rousing any suspicions on their parts. With that in mind he decided to send a letter with a school owl as Hedwig is way too well known.

So in their first meeting they decided that they will meet every night from 10:00 to 12:00 in Shrieking shack for their nightly meetings. Each day they will learn Pureblood customs and politics and Occlumency except at weekends when Narcissa will teach him Runes and Arithmancy to understand concepts behind Wards in which she is very proficient along with some minor Dark Arts and their Counters.

It was very eye opening experience for Harry because while he was not stupid he was very lazy and didn't take his studies very seriously in last five years. But with Voldemort on rise and Dumbledore only giving lessons in Voldemort's past(which while necessary was not too useful now) made him think his priorities. While he was not a genius he can still learn and learn he did. After two months he can understand the basics of Runes and Arithmancy. But his main progress was in Occlumency and Dark Arts which slightly unnerved him. It seemed that Snape forgot to give any instruction aside from "Clear your mind" and he was too lazy to search library to find "clear your mind". But with Narcissa it was easier as she was an excellent instructor. So his Occlumency progressed further and with right mind set he improved his class performance. One thing that bothered him still was that even though he knew that Draco is a Death Eater he couldn't seem to find his task that he was assigned by his master. Well he will find in the future. He refused the Christmas Invitation by Weasleys this year because he was hoping to continue his lesson with Narcissa. Also if he was to be honest with himself he was getting attracted to Draco's mother with each passing day that they spent together. He knew that wizards aged slowly than normal people but still she was very gorgeous even after giving birth to a son of his age.

All these things aside, he finally found the reason behind Slughorn's return. It seemed that Voldemort was favourite of Slughorn in his school days and Dumbledore wanted some special memory pertaining Tom Riddle from Slughorn. But since he was not able to obtain it himself, he gave the responsibility of obtaining memory to Harry. He decided that if till Christmas he is unable to obtain memory he will try liquid luck that he won in the potions class. Now another matter came forward. It seemed that Hermione and Ron were fighting again. He just couldn't understand that why they can't confess their feelings to each other and be done with it. Also it seemed that Ginny was flaunting her relationship with Dean in front of him; the girl has no shame. Well he neither has the time nor patience to be in any romantic relationship with a girl let alone with youngest Weasley, so her efforts to make him jealous were for nought. It seemed that between classes, Quidditch, extra lessons with Dumbledore and Narcissa he has little time to anything else and he still couldn't find the task that Draco is supposed to carry out.

It was the first day of second term. Students were returning today. He spent this Christmas at Hogwarts which upset Weasleys, but he was busy and since his bestfriends were unable to do something worthwhile due to their Lover's quarrel he was unable to include them into his plans.

It seemed his plan for tutoring from Narcissa was bearing their fruit since his occlumency was getting better with every day and he was getting some idea how the pureblood society worked. It seemed Potters were purebloods with very high influence and money, but with his mother being a muggleborn the reputation took a great blow in pureblood circles which further diminished with him raised with muggles and being largely ignorant of any customs and traditions of wizarding world, and since Dumbledore didn't deem it worth to educate him in the cultural education it was a miracle that he had garnered respect from some purebloods. It was probably his fame that made him even slightly respected, which took a large hit last year.

Also with good control over his mental facilities he seemed to excel in studies, not so much as to be too noticeable to others but at least it cured him from his self depreciation tendency. He was not aware that he had any other vault of importance except his Trust Vault. It seemed that the family vaults are used to store history of families, along with other family relics, large amount of money, and books on family magic. It seemed his adopted family and friends forgot to mention any of these things, and Dumbledore was being Dumbledore, keeping information from him. Well at least he was allowed to go to Gringotts earlier to visit his vault on Christmas on the suggestion of Narcissa to get some books on family politics, family history and magic along with getting a statement of his account's holdings.

It was a very informative experience for him. It seemed that his family was firmly on light side for past three hundred years, but before that they were mostly neutral. Also it seemed that early generation of Potters was battle crazy since most family magic contained Battle Magic, along with Transfiguration. It seemed that early Potters retained the like of thrill of battle to some extent and adapted more accepted form to duels using unconventional Transfiguration. With his Grandmother being a Black (Dorea) some dark arts was introduced, and his mother added some Potions and Charms. Since the family considered any other things except their natural power beneath them due to their Gryffindor tendencies there was not much in the field of Rituals but there were two books on minor light ritual that while useful were not much to affect any noticeable changes in person.

With this in mind he resolved to grab one book on Rituals, one on family's perspective on wizarding politics, one on families recent history going back to merely two hundred years, one on Battle Magic for Beginners and one on Basic Transfiguration. It was enough for now along with tutoring with Narcissa and school classes. He went back to the goblins and requests an audit on his family's holdings. It seemed that his account while stagnant in his absence was not greatly affected. He resolved to comeback after some time to discuss his account's management and to visit Black Family Vault. It seemed that with some black blood from his Grandmother and with Sirius declaring him his heir he was considered black enough to access black family Vault.

Narcissa sat contemplating the event of past months or so. It appeared that in her state of panic concerning the safety of her son and with her husband being locked up in Azkaban a boy got the upper hand over her. She was very surprised that he had the audacity to approach her let alone blackmail her. She wouldn't have agreed to tutor him but the boy showed cunning of a Slytherin. She couldn't believe that this was the same boy whom her son described as foolhardy, full of Gryffindor pride. It seemed that while an amateur the boy had the qualities to make decent leader. With gryffindor courage and slytherin planning and cunningness Harry Potter could achieve something worthwhile. And if last four month's teaching was any indication then the boy was intelligent. It seemed that Hogwarts education system has fallen too much. Well at least she had something interesting to do other than sit idly at manor or going to the Death Eater Meetings in the absence of her husband.

A/N: it is a time travel fic. which will become clear as it progresses more.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter – 2

It was unfortunate that even though Slughorn wanted him to be in his camp and was suitably impressed, was still not willing to part with the memory that Dumbledore wanted so much. It seemed that Headmaster has used every trick in his bag except force to obtain the memory and the result was a very cautious and guarded Slughorn. It was New Year Eve party that potions professor organised after which Harry found perfect opportunity to ask the same question that Tom Riddle asked him fifty years ago. It seemed that Slughorn was more intelligent than he gave him credit for. He instantly became suspicious and refused to acknowledge his question except reprimanding him for delving into dark arts.

Now tomorrow he will use alternative. He will use the vial of Felix Felicis and then question him. It seemed a little luck on his side will help in the success of his quest.

(Next Day)

"Excuse me professor but could you escort me to the grounds. It seems that Hagrid's friend died and he invited me to his funeral but seeing as it is not allowed to go alone out of main campus I would be grate full if you accompanied me."Harry said in his most polite and charming tone that he could manage. Lessons with Narcissa are definitely helping him.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Well since it is such an important occasion I will accompany you. Lead the way."Slughorn replied.

After paying the necessary respect (Hagrid and Harry) and obtaining some acromantula venom (Slughorn), they went to Hagrid's cabin. After downing the bottle full of Firewhiskey Hagrid was out like light and Potions professor was drunk enough seeing that in between the drinking occasion Harry used the Liquid Luck he decided to grab the opportunity to get the memory from Slughorn.

"Professor, seeing as how you helped me I will let you in a secret. The Prophet is not far from the truth. There is a prophecy pertaining to me and Voldemort, claiming me the one to defeat him, but to do that I will need help and knowledge on the past of Voldemort. Professor I need that memory pertaining to the question that Tom Riddle asked you those years ago and what you answered. Please professor it will be a huge favour you will be doing on the wizarding society." He decided to be partially truth full.

Slughorn looked fear full and ashamed. "You can't even imagine how brilliant and charming he was all those times. I couldn't even fathom him to become what he is today. Please do not misjudge me."He looked tearfully. After a moment he pulled his wand and put its tip to his temple and pulled a silvery strand of memory which he deposited in a vial.

Harry tried not to show his excitement and thanked the professor before helping him to get to the castle. He carefully put an unbreakable charm on the vial and sealed it with a cork. He carefully made his way to the headmaster's office. Standing in front of gargoyle he occluded his mind before speaking the password.

"Cockroach Cluster"

The stone gorgoyle slid open to allow entry. Harry raised his hand to knock on the door but it seemed Dumbledore already knew about his presence.

"Enter" Dumbledore said "Come, sit Harry. So to what do I owe the Pleasure for this visit?"

"Well it seems that with some insisting and a lot of luck I finally managed to obtain the memory that you wanted, Sir."Harry replied hoping that finally they will get to some real lessons after this.

"Excellent. Lets us take the peek at it, ah."Dumbledore said rising from his chair and retrieving the pensieve and beckoning Harry to pour the memory in it. After Harry poured the content of vial in the pensieve they both dived in the memory.

After coming out of the pensieve both looked quite grave. To Harry it seemed that Voldemort has managed to make himself immortal.

"It is quite enlightening information. It seems that Voldemort has not only managed to make a Horcrux he had made seven of them." Dumbledore said in a tired and grave tone. After contemplating for some time while both were processing their own thoughts in silence the aged Headmaster spoke once more.

"Come Harry, it seems that I owe you an interesting story."They both returned to sit in their respective chairs. Dumbledore continued "Remember Harry how in your second year you managed to stop Tom by destroying his Diary. It was his first horcrux."

Harry sat listening feeling hopeless. It seemed that with so many Horcruxes it was almost impossible to defeat Voldemort for once and all. It was at that moment that something seemed to register in his mind. "Sir, you were searching for Horcruxes thats why you were absent so many times this year, isn't it."

"Very astute Harry. It was during one such search that when I came across one more Horcrux this summer that my fears about multiple Horcruxes became real. Also my hand which you pointed out once was injured while destroying this Horcrux and I think that I have managed to locate one more but I will need your help in retrieving it."

"Sir what was this second Horcrux and do you have any guesses as to what other might be?"Harry said with some hope.

"Ah, the horcrux I destroyed was Gaunt's Ring that Tom picked from his Uncle. As to the others I believe they are Slytherin's Locket which he stole from Borgin and Burkes, Hufflepuff's cup that he managed to take from Hepzibah Smith, something of Ravenclaw and his pet snake Nagini. As to their location I believe that we will be searching for Slytherin's Locket while other's is still unknown."Dumbledore said leaning back in his chair and sucking on a lemon drop that he is so fond of.

"Sir, how do you destroy the Horcrux?"Harry asked curious as to what could have possibly injured the powerful wizard.

"An important question Harry. Basilisk venom is highly destructive in nature as you may know from your personal experience."Harry shuddered recalling the memory in Chamber. "Goblin made weapon have the tendency to absorb the properties of the things they come in contact with. When you killed the Basilisk with the Gryffindor's sword it absorbed the venom. I used the sword to destroy the Horcrux. Also you can use fiendfyre but I would advise against it as it is very hard to control and has the tendency to turn against the caster if even slightly uncontrolled." Dumbledore informed him. It seemed that while Harry didn't learn any magical skills he gained an important piece of puzzle to defeat Voldemort.

"Well Harry before we retire for tonight I would like to know whether you informed your friends about the prophecy and our discussions of Voldemort' past." Dumbledore asked.

"No sir, I haven't." Harry replied honestly.

"While it is your choice to inform them I would suggest you do it, after all they are your friends and you shouldn't carry the burden alone." Dumbledore continued peering closely at him.

"Well Sir, we are not that close as we were before. It seems that Ron and Hermione have discovered the points of teenage. And I don't want to burden them at this time." Harry told the Headmaster.

"While it is not my place to interfere in the love life of my students I would advise you to enjoy the life Harry because you don't get any younger with each passing day." Dumbledore said slightly amused and slightly pained.

"Thank you sir, but I would like to ask what will we be learning now that you have told me about Voldemort's past and Horcruxes because no offence to you sir but I don't see how it can keep me alive in the near future against Death Eaters and Voldemort if I come across them."Harry said slightly hope full.

Dumbledore sat for sometime contemplating something with a pained expression then summoning an old book from his bookcase and giving to him.

"Harry while I don't think that I can teach you much in so little time I will try to teach you some tricks that may come handy to you. I want you to read this book in three days time and think about the truth in them, after all every myth has some truth in them."

Harry peered at cover of the book, it read 'Beetle the Bard'. He opened the front page and looked at the introduction. It seemed that the book was a children's storybook. He looked at aged professor funnily then thought better of it. After all the man may be eccentric or mad but he was still a genius. He rose to leave but paused as something came to his mind.

"Sir, earlier you said 'so little time', I could not help but think that you are not telling me something crucial."

"Harry I think that some things are better left alone, they will become clear at the appropriate time." Dumbledore said evasively.

Harry started becoming angry but managed to cool down using occlumency. "Sir, I would like to point out that you promised to not hide thing from me if they are important to me."

Dumbledore looked every bit his age as he bowed his head low then indicated for Harry to sit down. "Harry while I think that the information that you want to know is important I think they will reveal themselves at their own time" he raised his non-injured hand to forestall any arguments that Harry might have before continuing "but I think in this case I will tell you what you will have to know before facing Voldemort but first I would like to know how effective your Occlumency shields are coming along with Lady Malfoy."Dumbledore said with some of twinkle back in his eyes.

Harry sat there gaping like fish before uttering "How?"

"Ah, that Harry is trick for trade so when you have something worth the trick I will tell you, now I would like to test your shields before telling anything crucial. So if I have your permission?"Dumbledore asked smiling.

Harry composed himself before taking a deep breath before signalling the Headmaster that he was ready.

Dumbledore looked in his eyes and entered his mind without any incantation.

Harry at first sat their thinking what Headmaster was doing before he felt a very silent prickling sensation in his mind he immediately put the effort trying to block the presence from progressing any further and trying to lock away his memories clearing his mind. While it seemed like hours but in reality were few seconds he felt a memory surfacing of him gazing at Narcissa before he felt the presence leave. Coming to reality he looked to see headmaster sitting highly amused.

"While I would advise you to cautious I can't deny that Lady Malfoy is very beautiful."Dumbledore said.

Harry turned red muttering about "old coots" before speaking. "It was pathetic. I couldn't even keep you out for even a minute."

"Ah, there is where you are wrong. You did a commendable job. You practiced Occlumency while resisting the intrusion used by incantation which is easier because it forewarns you about the incoming intrusion also your subconscious fights to protect your mind from foreign invasion. While in my case I entered your mind without any incantation thus removing your advantage of forewarning also your subconscious was not ready for any foreign presence in your mind. It is more difficult to protect from silent legillimency as it is hard to detect. The fact that you managed to detect me and stalled me is commendable." Dumbledore said "well as it seems that you are sufficiently prepared I will try to explain some things, be warned I will not tell you everything, because some of them are not mine alone so do not argue on that." When Harry agreed Dumbledore continued. "This summer when I found the ring I made a foolish mistake on my part. It seems that in the excitement I forgot that Voldemort is a genius. It seems that there was a subtle compulsion on ring to put it on with a deadly curse. Instead of destroying it I put it on my finger which activated the curse injuring my hand and spreading further. I stopped contained the curse to that hand but couldn't counter it completely. I invited Severus to examine my hand. It seems that the curse spreads rapidly until the person dies most painfully by withering of his heart. The more magically powerful person is the death is more painful and quick. So after Severus checked my hand he informed me that there is no known counter of the curse but with potions and less use of magic I will have until the end of year. So Harry, the fact is I'm dying."

Harry sat feeling numb. He couldn't believe what his headmaster was saying but one look at his face said that his fear was true and it was not a nightmare.

"So what you are trying to say is that you are leaving an under aged wizard who haven't even completed his school to save the world. What next, that I will be dead too?"

Dumbledore looked grave before determination came to his face. Harry could not miss the fact even if he tried that the famous twinkle was completely absent in the old eyes.

"Harry, I didn't want you to find it this way but I think you have earned the right to know the truth. The truth in this matter is that when Lord Voldemort came that night to murder you he had already split his soul in seven parts. While it is a powerful number it also made his soul unstable which became further unstable as he killed your mother. With her love for you making a shield the killing curse rebounded destroying Voldemort's body and his soul fled while leaving a small sliver of his soul unintentionally. That soul attached itself to the only living person at the house."

If Harry had thought previously that it was bad then it was nothing compared to now. "You mean to tell me that I am a Horcrux and I will have to die before Voldemort can be killed." Harry asked with disbelief.

Dumbledore looked at Harry sadly before nodding.

Harry sat all the while thinking the importance of the matter. Finally steeling his resolve he spoke once more. "So this is why you never tried to train me to face Voldemort. Well if we are both going to be dead who is going to kill Voldemort. I don't think the wizarding world which is filled with coward will do anything if we are both dead. Their already fear to even say his name. With our death their moral will be down and fear will become more pronounced. Even if I make him mortal he will still be very powerful which along with his army of Death Eaters will make him still very menacing for anyone who has not faced him before; which if I am correct then are present only in this room."

When Dumbledore didn't reply immediately, Harry stood and went for the door "I think I need some time to process all this."

"Very well Harry, our next meeting will be in three days, and do not forget to read the book."Dumbledore said after him. Harry merely nodded and exited the office.

With a flick of wand and a muttered 'Tempus' he found that he still had two hours to kill before meeting Narcissa.

"Dobby!" he called.

"The great Harry Potter called Dobby; what can Dobby do for yous sir?"Dobby said excitedly.

Harry grinned at the hyperactive elf, some things never change.

"Dobby I would like you to clean the shrieking shack a bit and arrange a table for the dinner for two people, then make the favourite dessert of Mrs. Malfoy and mine, when I call for you bring them to the table. But don't change the outside appearance of shack. You have only two hours for everything so you can enlist the help of other elves. Can you do that Dobby?" Harry asked after giving instruction to the bouncing elf.

"Yes sir, Dobby will do everything sir." Dobby said happy at given the tasks to perform by his Great Harry Potter sir.

"Thank you Dobby." Harry said smiling at the little elf. With a snap of fingers Dobby vanished.

Harry sighed before continuing towards his dorm. A nice hot shower will do nicely to relieve him of some tension.

Harry glanced at the watch finding it was fifteen minutes before his meeting with Narcissa. He was very nervous with right reasons. Even after all the lessons he was still not very confident.

He pulled his Invisibility Cloak over himself before exiting the common room. After walking for ten minutes he reached the shack. To say that he was surprised will be a complete understatement. The shack while still the same from outside was positively different in the inside. All scratch marks made by werewolf were gone, the floor was sparklingly clean. A vase was at the one corner of the room. The whole inside was painted in a blend of blue, red and silver. Then he entered the side room. While the basic colours were same the decoration was more extravagant with a dining table in the centre of the room. The whole table was set for a candlelight dinner except for food. He was very impressed by elves' capabilities.

He heard the door to the other room open and went to find Narcissa standing just inside looking at the scenario with appreciation before turning towards him with an elegantly raised eyebrow. Harry explained "Well if I may be so bold to invite you for a dessert before starting our meeting?"

Narcissa looked surprised before schooling her feature and accepting. All the while she was thinking about his motivations.

As they entered the dining room Harry was surprised to find four dessert bowls on the table along with cutlery, it seemed that Dobby was more intelligent. As they started to eat their respective dish Harry contemplated how to approach the subject he wanted to discuss with her, after all while she was teaching him he was still not certain about her loyalties. All his time Narcissa was regarding him with a curiosity. To her it seemed that the Potter scion had planned something, what she didn't know.

After finishing her dish she asked the one question that was at the front of her mind. "By the way Harry did you order my favourite dishes by coincidence or knowingly?"

Harry smirked before replying - "Neither," looking at her for a moment he continued "it seems that Dobby was very familiar with her old Mistress's choices in food."

Narcissa sat stunned for a moment before understanding dawned on her and she nodded.

After they returned to the main room they sat on the opposite couches. Harry started "First let me thank you for your help that you provided me with. If I am honest with myself and to you then I will have to confess that I like you. Not in the simple teacher student way but more than that. If it was appropriate I would have likely asked you to a date. I am attracted to you not only physically but also because of who you are. You are intelligent, strong, caring but not smothering but most importantly you were honest to me and didn't try to manipulate me, at least I think so." Harry looked at her face and saw first real emotion completely devoid of the cool mask; he saw the surprise and gentleness that he didn't think will ever be directed towards him. "I have come to the decision that while I would like to continue our lessons I should not. If the circumstances were different I would have loved to spend time with you but due to some reasons among my growing affection towards you I would have to cancel these lessons, so you are free to not come here again for further tutoring. I will still hold my end of deal."

At first she couldn't believe what she was hearing but the last completely threw her out for a loop. She sat processing what he said before asking "And may I enquire about other reasons for quitting the lessons."She was disappointed to hear that he wanted to quit. If she was honest to herself it gave her something interesting to do other than boring meetings with socialites, Death Eaters and being alone at the big Manor. Although while she started to like him she hadn't regarded him as romantic interest after all he was her son's age. But it flattered her that he was interested in her. After all a woman always loves to be appreciated and admired.

Harry continued to gaze at her for some time before he reached to a decision. "While I like you it still doesn't mean that I trust you completely, after all you are not here by your free will alone, so I hope you understand my plight. But I am willing to tell you about them if you swear an oath to not reveal what I am telling you to anyone or anything without my permission. Also to be truthful about what I ask regarding them." He hoped that she agree to his conditions so that he may tell someone partial about the mess that his life has become.

Narcissa sat weighing the pros and cons of this new deal. On one hand it made her feel nervous to make any kind of deals with the boy whom she personally tutored in manipulation, on other hand it will give her an insight to the reasons for quitting the meetings. Finally pros outweighed cons and she agreed to swear the oath. After she swore the oath he also gave to keep his silence about her.

"Do you want Voldemort defeated for once and all or not?"Harry asked.

Narcissa looked at him for a second as if judging him whether to tell him or not then finally replied "Yes I want him gone for good. After all he is responsible for my family's present situation. While I have no love for muggles and muggleborns I do not think his way is correct."

Harry then started regaling her with the tales of his survival as an infant, his link with Voldemort, Prophecy and Horcruxes and the fact that he have to die. He watched her face for any reaction that she might show. The most pronounced were Curiosity, Comprehension, Disgust, Sympathy, Horror and Sorrow along with Determination. It was the first time he saw so many emotions on her face in one sitting.

"I understand with your reasoning that what will you need the skills that I am teaching you if you are dead. But you should not despair. The fact that you have to die to destroy the soul inside you is possibly one method that Dumbledore is aware of, there may be other ways except destroying the host. While I have no qualms over ending our lessons I think you should focus on trying to stay alive and learn as much as you can while researching alternative ways for removing Horcrux. Blacks are renowned for their knowledge in Dark Arts and black library and family vault are filled with the books on them along with some obscure branches of Dark Arts like Necromancy. So I will suggest you to search in them for possible methods." Narcissa said sympathetically and slightly reprimanding. Just because someone knows that he will die he should not stop living.

Harry looked at her with such hope like she was solution to his problems. With such an emotional environment they did not do anything other than occlumency to get their emotions in check before departing with promise on both parts to continue their lessons. All the while ignoring the issue of Harry's attraction towards her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter – 3

Harry stood outside the door of Dumbledore's office. It was the third day after their discussion and Harry was slightly hopeful after Narcissa's suggestion that maybe he wouldn't have to die.

"Enter"Dumbledore's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Please sit Harry."After Harry sat down he continued "So did you complete the book."After Harry's nod "Excellent, now remember Harry that except for morals the myth have some truth in them, so keep an open perspective. Now what I will be teaching you will be subtle art of Legillimency, some basic wand-less magic, Core-accessing, then we will be testing your magic for elemental affinity and training in that elemental magic but before that remember one thing Harry that Practice makes perfect. I can teach you all I want but the only thing that you will learn will be what you practice. First you will learn how to access you magical core."

"The thing about core-accessing is not imagining your core or simply finding it. Every branch of magic Dark or Light is a form of Core-accessing. Your physical body contains a box which has the affinity to access magic outside world which then you manipulate. This box or storage of magic already contains some magic in it for use. The larger the box is, the more amount of inherent magic. Your body has pathways to access the magic from the box. When you cast a spell you force your will and intent on the box which sends magical tendrils via these pathways which you push into your wand to manipulate to get desired result. Now when more powerful or strong spells are cast they require more amount of magic. If your magic box is smaller it will become empty more quickly resulting in early magical exhaustion, similarly if the pathways are not properly formed or narrow they will restrict the flow of magic in your body thus resulting in weaker spells. Now wands are focus tools, they when properly compatible with your magic will enhance the magic emerging from your hands and using the magic in surroundings. If a wand is not suited enough then while it may work sometimes it will be very unpredictable, like for one spell it will allow to channel the magic but for other it can resist flow of magic."

"The strong wizards like Voldemort have large box for storing magic thus enabling him or them to use more powerful spells or magic more easily. Also their pathways with so much practice have become properly developed thus reducing the strain of using magic due to the restriction against magical flow. Also with their powerful wands which are suited for them they can cast more easily for longer time intervals."

"So you are saying that a wand only makes use of magic easier for normal wizard by enhancing the power of spell by using magic present in the surrounding, since their magical storage is not very large and their magical pathways are not properly developed."Harry said after listening to the explanations.

"Very good Harry," Dumbledore smiled at him "now in case of most dark arts the magic that you access is not completely from your core. The reason for them to be so powerful is that when you use them you make sacrifice. You are actually offering a small sliver of magic in return for more magic in your surrounding which activates when the offered sliver of magic leaves your body through pathway. Since your wand already enhances some of your magic adding the more magic gained by surrounding through sacrifice results in very powerful spells. That's why the exhilarating experience due to excess magic surrounding you and powerful nature of spells result in addiction in Dark Arts user. " Dumbledore paused to see if Harry had any question for him.

"So the thing is that anyone can make a powerful Dark Wizard but not many can be Powerful Light wizard. Well what of school stuffs?"Harry asked.

"Most school stuffs are Neutral in nature. They are not only taught you for use in your everyday life they are also taught for the reason that they do not affect your magical affinity towards either Dark or Light. Since the magic of under aged wizards is not matured, it hasn't settled the required paths to use magic more easily though one can practice to create pathways. The school stuffs mostly build the pathways to channel magic. Now there is an important reason for children to be eleven before they are admitted to the school, up to this age the core of child is forming irregularly thus accidental bursts of magic. After this age magical core becomes stable in the sense that after age of eleven the growth of core follows a definite patterns thus creation of pathways doesn't affect negatively." Dumbledore said.

After pausing for a moment to to give Harry some time to process all this he continued. "Now to access your core you have to get into a meditative state that should be easy for you with your occlumency training. Now when you are meditating focus on the feeling, on the rush that accompanies you wheneve you cast a powerful spell. I know that you can produce Patronus so I would suggest you to focus on the feeling when patronus leaves your wand, not on the memory that you use to cast patronus. When you do that and achieve the tranquility required for core accessing, you will be cut from the rest of the world. Then you will be guided to your core by your subconcious. Now your objective for today is just that, untill you see your core we can't progress any further. So get ready to start." Dumbledore said while picking his favourite candy from his bowl.

Harry after thinking for a moment transfigured his chair in a blanket and set it on floor, then he sat cross-legged on it and began to start control his breathing and start meditating. It was true that lessons in occlumency has prepared him for meditation and thus it was easier for him than ever to meditate. He didn't know for how long he sat there concentrating on the feeling that came with casting magic, but slowly he started to drift to some point. After some time he came to a globe of energy. Defining it was like defining light or dark. Meaning that he could explain what he was seeing but he couldn't give a certain definition. After some time marveling at it he touched it and felt the wonderful feeling that accompanied him whenever he cast a spells only many times stronger and more euohoric. It gave a sense of invincibility, of possibility that it can do anything and of comfort that it will help him in his times of need. After some more time just looking at the globe he started to focus on reality. He slowly opened his eyes to see the aged headmaster reclining in his chair comfortably and loking through a journal. As if sensing that Harry has concluded his meditation he righted himself in his chair and looked at him enquiringly. Harry told him of his experience and after listening for next fifteen minutes Dumbledore deemed it enough for tonight.

"Very good Harry, I want you to Practise this daily after you wake up in Morning or before you go to your sleep. Now I think it time for your meeting with Mrs. Malfoy, but before that I want you to read this journal thouroughly. I think that your basic Runes knowledge is enough for understanding these but in case you have any problems you can come to me, just keep in mind to keep it to your self, because Knowledge in wrong hand can do much harm. Now good luck in your meetings because I think you are one minute late already and keeping a woman waiting is not in best interest of your health." Dumbledore said clearly amused. Harry swore and picked the journal and ran as fast as he can to reach shrieking shack. He huffed and puffed as he opened the door to the main room. There he saw her waiting in the chair looking quite bored.

"Good evening Cissy."Harry said cheekly. She only raised an eyebrow in response to his appearance. "Well since it's your first transgression I will forgive it this time but next time be more prompt or you will find yourself in more trouble. Now let us start with our lessons. Since we have completed Runes and Arithmancy upto OWL level I will introduce you to some of their more practical applications. They are more useful in spell creation, spell modification and warding." She said. "Now whenever you cast a spell you draw a rune with help of your wand which is unique to your intent as to what you want to achieve, which is created by help of Arithmancy by solving some complex equations. Then you trigger these runes by sending pulse of your magic into it. The required amount of magic needed to perform the spell depends on the power of spell. Now you may ask why can some wizards perform wordless magic without drawing much intricate patterns in the air and form a chain of spells. The Answer to that is very simple if you try to think it. Think, when you are casting a spell you speek the spell you force your subconcious and conciousness to focus on the result you want to achieve. Now every spell has some common motions attached to them that are not specifically a spell. Thus they can form a chain of spells minimizing and combining the motions. Noe if one has enough will he can make his intent clear to himself without needing words thus wordless casting. Intent and will are most important in any magic. You have to make your intent clear and will it to happen. The rest is only secondary."

Harry nodded indicating that he understood what she was saying.

"Now in spell creation you write what it is that you want to achieve from your spell. That is your intent. Then you use arithmancy to write equations and solve it. Based on this solution you add runes to this equation to finallise your intent. Then you check there can be any harm to caster, if not then you test your spell, if everything is appropriate your spell will work. Now you can understand the logic behind spell modification." Narcissa said. Harry was very glad that he made the deal with her this summer, it certainly helped him this year in his study. Narcissa continued after pausing for a drink and giving him time to process everything and to question any doubts. "Warding uses a different approach in using runes than spells. You use runes to create a field like a force field using them as focus points. How this field is created is again calculated by arithmancy. After setting these runes you activate them using your magic and power them using the ambient magic of surroundings. There are various method to power them. Now I think you have learnt some simple silencing and privacy wards in your charms class. We will see how a silencing charm was created by runes." Well it was very tired Harry Potter that left for his dormitory after analysing silencing ward and practicing occlumency. Once he pulled the curtains around his bed shut he reached in his pocket to pull a shrunken journal. After enlarging it he turned the first page. There that did it . "Ancient and Obscure Runes : Unconventional Magic". He groaned. He didn't even had the time to open the books he brought from Potter family vault. It seemed that between his classes, Quidditch, training with Dumbledore, lessons with Narcissa and solving the mystery behind Draco's task he didn't even had the time to rest less to spend with his best friends. Already Ron was complaining about him becoming male Hermione and Hermione lecturing him about his ethics regarding Potions. Add to that fan girls and Ginny trying to make him jealous like he didn't know, his life was becoming hell. Well at least t the end of year he will have slightly more chances of surviving than he would have otherwise. With that in mind he welcomed the goddess of sleep with his pillow.

A/N: Some of you may be wondering how it is a timetravel fic. But please be patient. It is all necessary. Dumbledore training harry in some uncommon magic. Well that I did because I thought that with his hundred and fifty years he might have some special knowledge that modern generation forgot. And it may help Harry.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter – 4

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. It pleases me to know that someone appreciates my work. Also I would like to apologize to every reader that while I will not abandon the story, it may take some time to post new chapter. So thanks again and please review any suggestion though I would insist that I am trying to post the chapters with as less errors as possible without any beta because I am unable to find one suitable for this story.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine blah blah blah...

Time flew by quickly for Harry. With his friends paying more attention on themselves and him ignoring Ginny he had more than enough time on his hand to continue with his training with Narcissa and Dumbledore. Although Quidditch was something which made his life slightly more busier than he would have liked but he couldn't quit the team because that will bring some unwanted and negative attention on him by his housemates that he didn't need right now. Dumbledore it seemed wanted to tell him something but as always was not directly forthcoming with information. It looked as if he wanted him to find something but not until he had very little time to seriously consider the effects it will bring on him. Well while that front was confusing as hell at least he can say that he had an intelligent if slightly unwilling person to confide in.

He was half way through the Runes journal that headmaster gave him and while he encountered some difficulties it was not very serious as he could discuss it afterwards with Professor. His Occlumency training was complete and he only needed to practice it daily. It helped to finally be proficient in the art as it helped in his studies as he was more focused and not so forgetful. His training in Politics and Traditions was nearly complete as one can only better himself with time and experience; and while Narcissa was an excellent teacher of the art he can't become master in eight months. People dedicate their whole live to become the master of these to finally be able to go head to head with other politicians. The only problem was his growing (one-sided) attraction to her. It seemed that while she enjoyed spending time with him she was not ready to confirm anything regarding her feelings towards him. But it was clear that she was aware of his feelings. So they continued their lessons with her teaching him more about Warding and Dark Arts and Black family secrets while researching his connection to Voldemort.

Lessons with Dumbledore while unconventional were interesting to say the least. It was now two weeks left before his end of year exams. His wordless casting was progressing very well with his proficiency in Occlumency and him building pathways to channel his magic. Dumbledore added Legillimency on the list of things he wanted to teach Harry. It was very tiring for him but he was content for the time in his life because he knew that he was doing something worthwhile with his life.

Another thing that bugged him to no end was the storybook that Dumbledore gave him. It seemed that out of all the stories only the story of three brothers was more important as there was a handwritten inscription of Deathly Hallows on the book. He knew that there was something that headmaster wanted him to know but was not willing to tell him outright. Well he will keep that in mind for questioning later.

Harry sat at breakfast table contemplating the events of last night. Dumbledore sent a note with Fawkes telling to meet him in his office after dinner. While it was not unusual he was curious as they were to meet just next day for their usual meeting. It appeared as he had a clue as to the location of another Horcrux and he wanted Harry to come with him to locate it. Harry was surprised by the request but agreed on one condition. He wanted to examine the ring that Voldemort made into Horcrux. Dumbledore was apprehensive to give it to him but after some arguing and persuasion he agreed to give the ring to Harry. As it presented perfect opportunity Harry asked what he wanted to for quite some time.

"Professor, I read the book that you gave me. After reading the story of three brothers I thought for some time but couldn't come to any conclusion other than the moral that one should not be arrogant and that the death is certain. I wanted your opinion on the existence of the Hallows." Harry said not voicing his suspicions. Dumbledore peered at him before saying.

"Harry, I told you that every myth and Legend had some truth in them maybe not completely but there is always a possibility that there was something to their origin. While I can't say whether the Hallows are real or they were gifted by Death; it is possible that there are some powerful artefacts to match some description to Hallows." Dumbledore said not clearing his opinion on the matter of Hallows.

Harry thanked the headmaster and returned to his dormitory. Upon waking this morning he inspected the ring. There he found the same symbol of Hallows on the ring containing the stone. He suspected that this stone and his invisibility cloak were Hallows. The reason for this was the book on Potter history that he brought with him from potter family vault. It seemed that his ancestors were related to youngest Peverell brother. Also as far as he knew Invisibility cloak didn't last very long. So if his father used it in his younger years then it was possible that it was an heirloom passed down generation. So if the story has any truth in it then he was in possession of two Hallows. Only the Elder wand was lost out there and if he can combine the three he could become the master of death if the stories were true. But if not then at least he will have some powerful weapon that will solve the problem of brother wands. Harry got some much needed hope that he was slowly losing.

Training in battle magic was difficult for Harry as he hadn't come into his Maturity and his reserves while large for his age were not enough to cast the powerful spells without draining him too much. So while he could cast some battle spells they were not much effective as their purpose described. So he continued reading on Wards, Runes, Arithmancy and training his Wandless and Wordless magic while building his magical channels.

Today was going to be a test of all he learned this past year. He had made some serious progress but he still felt awfully prepared to face Voldemort. Dumbledore had tested his affinity for elemental magic and found that he was more connected to the air and earth than any other element. But he had the affinity for each element if less than air and earth. He wanted Harry to begin his practice of Air element as Harry felt most positive emotion while in air but he suggested that he learn Earth side by side to Air.

Harry started his training in air by going to astronomy tower and feeling the air surrounding him and its effects on his magic by accessing his magical core. At first he was not able to find anything significant but after three days he found that he magic didn't change with change in air but it resonated to air in a particular way. After that it was experimenting with his magic to affect the surrounding air in presence of Dumbledore so as not to do anything drastic to harm him or anything else. It was not very flashy but it was something that made him to try harder. After three weeks when he was finally able to change the thickness of air surrounding him and change the speed of air to a notable amount. After these three weeks Dumbledore took him to Forbidden Forest to train him in Earth element. After the finding air element's connection to his magic it was not too hard to find his connection to earth. It also helped that the forest was thick with magic regarding plant life. After that it was him trying to affect seed of a plant with his magic keeping it on earth. So far he can manage to bring a powerful gust of wind to blow something away and make him lightweight on air by combination of Air and Earth. Also he can grow the seed into very small plant but nothing significant. Well he can't master everything at once. So with this in mind he consoled himself to continue his education as it were and enjoy himself a little.

He also came to a sudden realization that he put the Malfoy Jr. Matter out of his mind. With this he began to formulate his plan to confront Draco and find out what was his task. So today before going to retrieve the Locket with Dumbledore he wanted to resolve the situation with Draco. So that was what keeping him here hidden in his invisibility cloak monitoring position of Malfoy in the map on seventh floor corridor. As Malfoy stood before the wall to access Room of Requirement, Harry cast a non-verbal stunner on him before looking in his map to find Snape coming towards their location. Harry hastily moved to the wall pacing three times requesting an interrogation room which no one else can find or access without Harry's permission before levitating Malfoy in the room and closing the door. Harry bound Draco to the chair using ropes provided by Room then casting an 'Ennervate' on him. Malfoy came to consciousness abruptly looking around him before noticing Harry.

"Potter! What are you doing here and why am I bound?"Draco said angrily although Harry could sense his discomfort and worry.

"Dear Draco, we can do this either easier way or hard way according to your willingness to assist me in answering some questions. So what do you think?" Harry said.

"Whatever you think Potty, you are not frightening enough and you cannot make me tell you anything. So release me this instant or you are going to regret it severely." Malfoy said now panicking but trying to threaten him.

"Well I was thinking that you will co-operate with me but it seems that you have n intention to do so. Well I have a present for you," Harry said extracting a vial of clear liquid "you do know that what it is, don't you?" with the look of horror that crossed on Draco's face it was clear that he knew exactly what was in the vial. "Very good Draco, this is Veritaserum which I am going to use on you and you can't even complain to the ministry because it will be your word against Chosen One so I think it is time to progress one step further."

Harry poured three drops of Serum in Draco's mouth. After waiting for few second to let the potion takes effect on Draco he began his questioning.

"What is your name?"

"Draco Malfoy."

"Is your father a Death Eater?"

"Yes."

"What was the task that Voldemort assigned you to complete?" Harry asked paying more attention now.

"When my father was sent to Azkaban, the Dark Lord marked me and ordered me to infiltrate Hogwarts allowing Death Eaters entry in the Castle and to kill Dumbledore."

"And how were you going to bring Death Eaters in the school?" Harry asked clearly worried but feeling somewhat smug that he was right about Malfoy even though his friends didn't believe him.

"There is a Vanishing cabinet in the hidden room of Room of Requirements; its twin is in Borgin n Burkes. Death Eaters will enter the cabinet in Knockturn alley and will emerge from the one in Hogwarts. I will kill Dumbledore then." Draco said with the glazed look in his eyes.

"And when were you going to do it?" Harry asked clearly worried now.

"Tonight." Draco replied in a monotone.

"One last question; do you seriously want to kill Dumbledore?"

"I have no choice; if I don't kill Dumbledore then Dark Lord will kill me."

With his questions answered Harry stunned the blonde. He prepared to do one final thing before deciding against it. After stunning Malfoy once again he looked in map. It seemed that Snape left for his dungeon once he didn't find anything that he wanted to. Harry transfigured blonde into ferret and put him in his pocket before exiting the Room. Once outside he began to pace again requesting the room of hidden things. Once a door appeared he entered the room and locked the door. He had left very little time before his outing with headmaster and he wanted to stop the Death Eaters from entering the castle in his and Headmaster's absence; so he searched for the cabinet that Malfoy mentioned. Once he found it he thought what he could do with it to prevent the Death Eaters. After some time he thought that the Room's things were very dangerous to come into someone's hand. So he decided the best prevention. Though he was learning some dark arts to better understand their counter he was not a master in them. So while he thought that he could cast fiendfyre, he was not so arrogant to think that he could control it. But after some minutes thinking he made his decision. He looked around for something to help in his escape when he found some brooms. He picked the one that was in the best condition among them. While it was not fast to match Nimbus it was fast enough for him to escape. Since Room of Requirement was built in such a way to accommodate the user; Harry thought to make it so the fire was contained inside the room and once everything inside was burnt, it distinguished it.

"Fiendfyre" once uttering the spell he watched in trepidation as a fiery creature flew out his wand and leapt at the Vanishing cabinet. Once spell was free from his wand Harry leapt on his broom and flew to the doors as fast as he could. The fire was growing rapidly in size and was spreading all around. As Harry neared the doors he came to the ground and threw the broom back and opened the door. As he made to exit the door he heard an inhuman screech and his scar erupted in pain and he fell to the floor. Horrified he looked back in the Room and saw the rapidly approaching fire towards him. He quickly scrambled outside and shut the door. After breathing a sigh of relief he stood and began to walk towards the headmaster's office before remembering that he had Draco inside his pocket. He couldn't go back to his dorm so he continued to the office.

It seemed that the castle sensed something strange and the gargoyle guarding the office door slid aside to let him enter.

"Enter."As always Dumbledore knew that he was coming as he said before he could knock on the door.

Harry entered the office and sat on the chair without any greetings.

"Professor, tonight I have found some troubling news that you might want to know. After some questioning from Draco Malfoy I found that he is a Death Eater. How I questioned him is not important, what is important is that he was working on the order to kill you and bring the Death Eaters inside school." Harry sat looking for any kind of reaction from the headmaster.

Dumbledore looked forlornly at Harry before he began to speak. "Yes Harry, I was already aware of that. What I don't understand is that why you didn't trust me to handle this. Well do keep going, I think you have something more to share with me."

"Yes, well when I found this I went to the Room of Requirements. It was the Vanishing cabinet in there that was going to be used to bring the Death Eaters inside the castle; it has a twin in Knockturn alley in Borgin & Burkes. They are connected. So I went there and destroyed the cabinet. In the process everything that was inside the Room was destroyed." Harry said sheepishly not telling complete truth but since Dumbledore couldn't detect any lies due to his Occlumency he was able to pull it off.

"Ah! So that was what wards were informing me about. Well go on then" Dumbledore said clearly interested.

"Well now the problem of death eaters entering Hogwarts is taken care of. So as I was leaving the Room there was an inhuman scream and my scar started to open in pain when suddenly everything went quiet again. But in pain I got a glimpse of a Diadem with Ravenclaw's emblem on it. I think I destroyed another of Voldemort's Horcruxes." Harry recounted his findings to old headmaster.

Dumbledore while not happy about his finding regarding Draco was very pleased to know that one more Horcrux was destroyed. In fact it distracted him along with tonight's events to question harry about his method to destroy cabinet and Horcrux. "Well while it is indeed very good news, may I enquire as to whereabouts of Mr. Malfoy?"

Harry brought the ferret out of his pocket and put him on table. If Dumbledore was surprised, he didn't show any hint of it.

"So let's leave Mr. Malfoy like this for a while until we come back from our activity tonight. Are you ready, Harry?" Dumbledore waited for his response and after getting affirmative he stood beckoning Harry to follow him.

As Harry grasped uninjured hand of Headmaster he felt now familiar sensation of being squeezed through a tube.

A/N: Story may progress to its real purpose slightly slowly. As always thanks for your reviews.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter – 5

A/N: Sorry for the long delay, but due to my studies and exams along with projects and such I was not able to post as frequently as you or I would have liked.

Disclaimer: Same as always. Nothing of Harry Potter belongs to me except this plot.

It was dark with clouds all over the sky. Dumbledore and Harry both appeared near a hill. Dumbledore pointed the cave that was their destination. But to reach there they will have to cross the water body. Both started walking towards the cave. As they neared to it, they came across a wall made of stones. Harry sensed some kind of magic coming from the wall. He looked questioningly at Dumbledore.

"It seems that Voldemort is very paranoid regarding the safety of his possessions. It will require sacrifice on our part to gain the entry. It will weaken the person." Dumbledore said gravely.

"Well then let me make it." Harry replied understanding the meaning.

Dumbledore smiled. "No Harry your health is more important than mine." He brought out a knife from the pocket of his robes and made a cut on his palm. "To your health Harry." With that said he put his bleeding palm on the wall. There was a moment of silence then the wall began to dissolve in air.

Both wizards entered the dark cave illuminating their wand with "Lumos". Dumbledore flicked his wand and the orb of light floated towards ceiling filling the cave with light. Harry crept forward following Dumbledore further inside the cave. The orb illuminated a chasm inside cave surrounded by dark water.

"So how are we going to go forward. Because it seems unlikely that Voldemort would not have done something to the water." Harry asked Dumbledore.

Dumbledore stood silently for some time then strode forward extending his hand and chanting something under his breath. After some painful momentswhich appeared to be too long for Harry, something rose from the water in Dumbledore's extended hand. "Well it seems that we have been provided a transportation. But be careful and don't touch the water." Dumbledore said instructing his young companion.

They both climbed into the boat and Dumbledore steered it forward. After some time they reached their destination. Both climbed out of the boat and approached the crystal basin at the middle. The basin was filled with an opaque green liquid.

Dumbledore tried to vanish it, empty it in another conjured basin but it again filled to the brim.

"It seems that to empty it we will have to drink it." Dumbledore said gravelly. Then after picking the goblet that was near basin he turned to Harry with a serious expression on his face. "Harry if I'm unable to drink it by myself then you will have to make me drink. You have to ignore my pleadings or anything until that basin is empty."

Harry nodded with slight apprehension. That said Dumbledore dipped the goblet in the basin and brought it back filled to the brim then raised it to his lips and drank it in one go. At first there didn't seemed to have been any effect but after few moments the old wizard started shivering and fell to the floor. Harry reached forward and helped him to lean against a stone and lifted the goblet to do what he was instructed to do.

After some time which seemed like an eternity basin became clear of liquid and a locket appeared in it. Harry turned to Dumbledore with excitement clear on his face.

Dumbledore looked as he was not aware of anything. "Water" Dumbledore managed very weakly.

Harry turned and searched for something to carry water since the goblet he had was used for potion, thus he was not sure if he should use it again. Then after finding a pebble he transfigured it into simple bowl. After a muttered "Aguamenti" he filled the bowl with water and turned to Dumbledore. After making sure that Dumbledore was somewhat more responsive after drinking the water Harry helped him lean better against stone. "Professor, we got the locket. Are you able to travel back to the Hogwarts?" At this Dumbledore looked at Harry then nodded reaching for his wand. Harry helped the old him to his feet then clutched him to support him seeing him in week state. He was thinking how they should travel back, as it was clear that Dumbledore couldn't manage to apparate them the school without worsening his condition. But first they should get out of the cave. With this in mind he started to move Dumbledore to the boat. Careful to not touch the water surface remembering the warning that Dumbledore gave before venturing further inside the cave he climbed in the boat with Dumbledore. After motioning with his wand to start the boat to steer forward he sat back showing Dumbledore the locket that he retrieved from the basin.

"Professor this is the locket that we found in the basin."Dumbledore extended his wand and muttered something pointing it at the locket. Clearly whatever he was expecting was not what he found as he frowned at the locket in Harry's hand. Then extending his blackened hand hegrasped the chain of the locket and brought near his face to examine it more closely.

"It seems that our trip was not a complete success." Dumbledore said opening the locket. He found a piece of parchment folded inside the locket. Opening it he read and sighed. "It looks like someone else was aware of the nature of the locket and managed to retrieve it before us. But whoever he was, he was against Tom."

"So does it indicate who he was and did he destroy it." Harry said slightly hopeful but apprehensive.

"Yes, the person wrote initials of his name. R.A.B. Also he must have been a Death Eater as they were the only people who called him Dark Lord. But clearly he must have defected from their side as he went this far to steal one of the most important possessions of Voldemort." Dumbledore said as they reached the end leading outside the cave. Both wizards climbed out of the boat and exited the cave. Dumbledore, while able to talk and walk with support, clearly didn't have the strength to transport them without exhausting himself further, so with this in mind Harry prepared himself for sidelong apparation, but Dumbledore clearly had other idea as when they appeared outside of the cave he grabbed his hand tightly and disappeared to appear at Hogsmeade near Hogs Head. As they appeared Harry stumbled not prepared or the sudden trip, losing his grip on Dumbledore making the older wizard to stumble too. It was evident that the Dumbledore was seriously weak. Harry wanted to say something but didn't and led him to the door. Aberforth opened the door to let them led Dumbledore to a chair. As he sat there thinking what to do now that they were near Hogwarts and while the mission was not a complete waste of effort and time it still left a new puzzle to the identity of R.A.B. Well they will solve it when they are at Hogwarts and Dumbledore recovered somewhat, although Harry doubted that he will recover because the curse will be more strong than ever as Dumbledore's magic was now fighting the effects of potions too.

Aberforth brought a vial of Pepper up potion and gave it to Harry. Harry thanked him and drank it up.

"We have to get Professor to Madam Pomfrey." Harry said to Aberforth, who nodded and starts to support Dumbledore but Headmaster had other plans.

"No, it is best if you get Severus. He knows what to do." Harry was not pleased by this but agreed anyway. He supported Dumbledore and with help of Aberforth managed to bring him to the Headmaster's Office. Once the weakened wizard sat in the chair Aberforth returned to his bar. Harry sent a patronus message to Snape and waited alongwith Dumbledore. Draco was still in the form of ferret lying on the table unconscious. Harry turned to Dumbledore to ask what he was thinking about the identity of R.A.B.

"Professor, since the person is obviously a pureblood and a death eater. And assuming that he hadn't succeeded in destroying other Horcruxes in the absence of Voldemort in last 13 years, it is safe to assume that he was killed before I gained the scar. So can you think of anyone in Voldemort's Death Eaters that died but not killed by Aurors or Order?"

"Ah, yes there was Regulus, Sirius's younger brother. He was in service of Voldemort but then he wanted to back out. Voldemort killed him declaring him a traitor to the cause. No one knew exactly why he was a traitor but no one dared to question. Anyway the fact remains that under all the assumptions that you have put forth, only he fits the criteria. His full name was Regulus Arcturus Black. So supposing that he was the one to retrieve the original locket and considering that he couldn't have done it alone, he must have had some help. Now no one else was killed along with him therefore it is safe to assume that the person that helped him was someone whom Regulus trusted absolutely. Now hypothetically we have one possible link to solve this mystery. That is Kreacher since he is house elf bounded to black family he couldn't have betrayed Regulus outside the family. So I think that he is our possible source to solve this."

Suddenly they heard the knock on the door. And Harry transfigured Draco back to his human form but didn't revive him.

Snape entered and upon seeing Harry he sneered but didn't say anything. Upon reaching Dumbledore he saw Draco and an expression came over him which Harry couldn't decipher. He ran his wand over Dumbledore and cast some diagnostic charms on him. After some time he looked at Dumbledore. Seeing Dumbledore's enquiring gaze he shook his head imperceptibly. Harry couldn't understand any of this.

"Professor what is wrong?" Snape looked at Draco's prone form and before Harry could object he revived him. Draco looked fearfully at his surrounding before seeing Snape. He opened his mouth but Harry hit him with a silencing charm. Snape also moved his wand but suddenly Dumbledore took out his wand and looked at Snape. Before anyone could say anything Snape reacted in an instant.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Harry was stunned; he could only look helplessly at Dumbledore as he was hit by the Killing Curse. His body glowed green for a second before he fell limp to the floor. Harry ran toward him starting to cast at Snape but Snape was ready and retaliated by sending a blasting curse at Harry. Harry was unprepared for the curse at this close range and was blasted back at the wall. He saw Snape grab Malfoy and going towards the exit. Harry was filled with rage and sent an overpowered "Bombarda" at them. Snape looked back hastily erecting a shield to protect himself and Malfoy and while the shield managed to block the curse it still pushed them back and made Snape loose his balance. Draco fell to the floor and Harry seeing his chance started firing curse after curse at Snape as a result Snape was unable to reach Malfoy. Harry decided that he can't manage to defeat Snape without some kind of distraction or advantage. As he thought quickly he came to the decision that he can't let the Malfoy leave knowing too much. So still firing at Snape he quickly sent "Obliviate" at Malfoy and sent another curse at snape followed by an "Expelliarmus" at him. Snape hesitated for a second upon hearing the memory charm sent at Malfoy but that was his undoing as the first curse by Harry broke the hastily erected shield by Snape making him unbalanced resulting in him getting hit by Disarming hex. His wand clattered on the floor. Harry stopped his firing and pointed at Snape. Snape pulled a vial from his pocket and threw it to the wall. Harry not knowing what it was backed quickly erecting a shield around him. The vial upon impact on the floor burst with a bang creating lots of dark smoke. Harry further backed thinking of a way to remove the smoke.

With concentrating a bit and creating a gust of air he cleared the smoke but there was no sign of Snape and Malfoy. Sighing he looked around him. The whole office was mess. He ran to where lay Dumbledore. Upon seeing him he was filled with grief. While he knew that Dumbledore was not going to survive this year. He hadn't thought that he will go to his next great adventure like this. He bent and picked the wand that belonged to Dumbledore. He felt the Power that radiated from it as it flowed into him. He was not sure what it could be but he was not going to take any chance with the wand that belonged to a powerful wizard and put it in his pocket. He heard the footsteps reaching towards him and looked to McGonagall, Flitwick and other teacher coming towards him. He knew that now the whole burden was upon him. So with a last glance to his surrounding he prepared himself for a long emotional explanation ahead.

A/N: There may be some errors (grammatical and spelling). But since I wrote the story in one go, and hadn't had the time for Beta, I hope that it is not too much. Thanks for your reviews. They have been a great help and encouraging.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter – 6

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and support. For those readers getting tired of less dialogue I want to say that the real story hasn't even started. All the stuff that I did put there is needed as a base to build the main part; therefore I'm trying to get it out of the way as soon and in as short as I can.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, not me.

As dark as night can be, it still was not enough to completely hide the two figures that were approaching a dark, haunting looking building. While one was walking purposefully towards it, same can't be said for other. It was like one was dragging the other with him.

The older of the two approached the door and put his left arm on it while pressing a tattoo on it by his wand from another leaving his companion standing there without any support for the moment. The palm of his left hand glowed for a moment before he removed it from the door, keeping his wand at ready.

The door was opened by a burly looking man with a short balding man fidgeting behind it.

"You came at the right time. Dark lord was getting impatient. And it's good that you brought him with you. Now don't just stand there." The burly looking man said in his rumbling voice.

The visitor just sneered and entered past the guards while scowling at the balding man and dragging his companion inside once again.

Harry was standing in the destroyed office looking at the teachers waiting for the questions to come.

"Merlin Mr. Potter! What happened here?" McGonagall said looking stunned at the state of the office.

"Professor Dumbledore is dead." Harry said trying to be as strong as he can at the moment while the death of his mentor was still fresh; knowing that it was needed of him to shed the light over the events of tonight.

All the teachers were too stunned to speak before Madam Pomfrey and Flitwick rushed to the body of Dumbledore. Slughorn was looking very fearful while McGonagall was simply unable to say anything before founding her voice.

"H...How?"

"It was Snape, he hit Dumbledore with the killing curse." Harry said trying not to let the tears fall as anger at Snape took effect.

"We have to inform the students and Ministry Minerva." Flitwick said to McGonagall.

"You are right Fillius. I will inform the students while you floo to Ministry and inform them and Aurors of this." McGonagall said before sending Slughorn and Professor Sprout to collect the students from their Houses.

"Mr. Potter if you will please inform the Gryffindors to gather in Great Hall and send Mr. Filcth to come and meet me. And oh be present when the Aurors arrive, they will need you for testimony." The aged Transfiguration professor said. Knowing that as Deputy Headmistress it was duty of her to inform the student and be strong for it.

At this time Flitwick had informed the Ministry and stood ending the floo connection.

"Minerva, Aurors are coming here. I'm going to collect student to gather in the great hall." Flitwick said before leaving to inform the Ravenclaw. Meanwhile, Madam Pomfrey was running diagnostics all over the place to create her report for Aurors.

Harry began to leave to inform Gryffindor but his eyes fell on the Gryffindor's sword. He knew that once Aurors came to investigate it would become very difficult to remove things from the Office. He looked around and saw only school nurse distracted by Dumbledore's body, therefore he went around the table and reached the case that was holding the sword. He hesitated for a moment before grabbing it using minor notice me not charm on himself before leaving the office hurriedly.

Inside Gryffindor common room only a seventh year girl was awake. Harry went inside his Dormitory and saw all his roommates asleep. He opened his trunk and put both Gryffindor's Sword and Dumbledore's wand inside. He also put Marauder's map and his invisibility cloak inside that he had carried with himself to the cave. He stared at the Locket for a moment stopping the urge to destroy it and putting it inside a sock and finally locked his trunk with a simple ward to inform him if anyone tried to open his trunk along with a mild repulsive ward.

"Neville," He approached the sleeping knowing that like him Neville is the only other light sleeper.

"Wh..What? Harry?" Neville said groggily.

"Hey wake up and tell fifth and seventh years to go to the great Hall. McGonagall has an announcement to make. And oh tell the girl in the common room to wake all girls to go to the Great Hall as well. I will wake these and others, now go." Harry said before muttering an "Aguamenti" on Dean and Seamus.

"What the hell! Harry what that was for?" Seamus exclaimed annoyed.

"Hey! Don't complain we have to gather in Great hall. So go and wake first to fourth years. Well more like you can take your revenge on them." Harry said before proceeding to Ron's bed.

"RON! SPIDERS," Harry screamed near Ron's ear. Ron woke up screaming.

"AAAHH…"

Harry again told him to go to the great hall before leaving the dorm.

As he entered the common room, he saw all Hermione standing there waiting for him. As soon as she saw that he has come downstairs with a sulky Ron in tow, she started to ask questions.

"What happened Harry? What is it? Do you know why McGonagall wants at this time?"

"Not now Hermione, later. First to the great hall, you will know what and why." Harry said before quickly exiting the common room.

Inside the great hall all the students were waiting for the McGonagall to make the announcement with exited, annoyed and sleepy expressions. McGonagall looked as if she has aged a decade overnight. Finally she stood and the whole hall fell silent.

"Dear Students! It is with great sorrow that I have to announce that Headmaster Dumbledore is not with us anymore. A professor from within these halls, whom we trusted, murdered Headmaster Dumbledore." The whole great hall was stunned. Most of the students were fearful while some looked like their worst nightmares had come true. For them it was a frightening revelation. Afterall if the great Dumbledore can be killed within Hagwarts and by a teacher no less, then what is to guarantee their safety? Only some students were genuinely saddened by the news.

Slytherin looked mostly unaffected if slightly more cheerful. McGonagall continued ignoring Slytherin. "The professor was none other than Severus Snape." The disgust and loathing was clear by the she spoke Snape's name. "The Aurors are here to investigate and currently you are safe therefore there is no need to panic. Also two students were present during the whole debacle and one of them is missing along with Professor Snape. Other student fought professor Snape but was unable to prevent the escape, although he managed to save school from any further serious harm. Now we will pay our respect to departed Headmaster."

"Ah, it ssseemsss we have sssome visitors." Voldemort hissed from his throne before Wormtail and McNair entered with two new companions. All the death eaters looked eager after looking at the the two.

"Ah Severus! It's good that you are here and brought Mr. Malfoy with you." Voldemort said ignoring the slight fearful look that came over Narcissa before clearing. "It seems that he was unable to complete the task that he was given." Voldemort continued calmly as if discussing the weather.

"My Lord," Snape bowed before straightening himself and standing near Draco Malfoy again.

"So Severus, do you have some good news or did you come just to bring Mr. Malfoy?"

"My Lord, Dumbledore is dead." Snape said without any emotions in his voice.

"Indeed, and that happened how?" Clear interest evident on Voldemort's tone.

"I killed him with Killing curse, he is truly dead My Lord." Snape said.

"And why were you needed to perform the task that was clearly for Mr. Malfoy."

"Draco was stunned and unconscious in the office of Dumbledore. Also Potter was present there at the time."

"Ah so Draco was indeed unable to perform the task. First he was unable to open the Vanishing Cabinet and thus unable to let Bella and others enter. Then he also was unable to kill old fool. It seems that it is time for punishment." Voldemort said now looking at Malfoy. "Tell me Draco, what do you think your punishment must be?"

Draco only looked in confusion. Snape seeing this went to explain the situation.

"My lord before we could successfully escape, Potter obliviated Draco, therefore it is not certain how much he understands."

"Indeed, well Severus it is time that you told us the full story." Voldemort focused his attention on Snape now. Narcissa looked fearfully at Snape, also wanting to know the extent of trouble that Draco was in.

"My Lord, I received a message from Dumbledore to come to his office. When I went inside I saw Potter and an unconscious Mr. Malfoy with Dumbledore. It was clear that either Mr. Malfoy was caught by Potter or in some kind of confrontation with him. Dumbledore allowed me to revive Draco and to retrieve Draco's wand. I revived Draco during which both Potter and Dumbledore's attention was focused on Draco." Snape said modifying the events slightly.

"Since both were distracted and I was near Dumbledore, I cast the killing curse on Dumbledore. He was unable to defend himself and was killed. I started to leave by taking Draco with me when Potter started casting "Reducto" on me. I shielded both myself and Draco but the closeness made it difficult to properly defend both of us. Potter and I duelled and Draco and I were separated."

"I thought that since Draco didn't have wand Potter due to his fair Gryffindor pride will not harm him intentionally. I was going to disarm him when he sent an "Obliviate" at Draco; I hesitated for a moment in which Draco was hit by the curse. I managed to distract Potter and grabbed Draco and came here." Snape finished.

Bellatrix looked undecided whether to curse Snape or to praise him before deciding on being happy of Dumbledore's death. Voldemort looked thoughtful while Narcissa looked at Draco with worry. Rest of the Death Eaters regarded Snape with praising and jealous looked and at the same time happy at the outcome of the night without any serious efforts on their part.

Voldemort went near Malfoy before looking in his eyes, after sometime a slow smile crept on his face.

"It seems our Mr. Potter is either not very efficient on memory charm or very capable in it. Mr. Malfoy only has memories till the second year of Hogwarts. In any case it was his own fault that resulted in his current state. So his punishment is still to be decided. Well Mr. Potter has given me an idea for a simple fitting punishment."

"Obliviate!"

All the Death Eaters looked in interest while Narcissa looked frightened. Snape looked impassively betraying nothing of what he felt.

"Now Mr. Malfoy has memory till the age of six. Since he needs to be educated again, I am giving the responsibility to Bella to handle in her spare time with help from Wormtail." Voldemort said looking very pleased. "And please remind Mrs. Malfoy that she is not to interact with Draco."

"Now as our objective has been accomplished, we continue with our plans without any changes in them."

Harry was feeling like the night is never going to end. After McGonagall sent the students to bed , she asked him to stay instantly confirming to the identity of the student that fought Snape. And since Malfoy was missing it was clear that he was with Snape. Instantly Hogwart's rumor mill started working its wonder. Harry was certain that he will hear many outrageous stories tomorrow until the true events sre published in Daily Prophet.

"So Mr. Potter can you tell us what happened tonight and also why were you present in the office in the first place?" An Auror whom Harry was not familiar with asked.

Harry sighed internally before telling them what happened leaving some things that he thought were not for Ministry.

After the Aurors were gone he went to McGonagall telling her to gather Order together for a meeting and to include Ron and Hermione for the particular meeting as it was he who was going to tell them about tonight. After begging to go to sleep before answering anymore questions he went to his dormitory.

"What? Ron?Hermione? What are you doing here?" Harry asked seeing his two best friends sitting in on Ron's bed.

"Harry….." Hermione started before Harry stopped her knowing what was coming.

"Not tonight 'Mione, I am tired and I want to sleep. Tomorrow in the Order meeting I will tell everyone at once. And also you both are allowed in that meeting. So if you guys please hold your questions until tomorrow. Good Night." Harry said before closing the curtains around his bed. He was internally dreading whatever was going to happen tomorrow along with his meeting with Narcissa.

A/N: Thanks you 'IamtheMasterofDeath'. On your suggestion I have tried to keep the dialogue short. Also thanks to all other reviewers. Your suggestions were very helpful.


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